This invention relates to warning signs, and in particular to portable, free-standing safety signs which are placed on a floor to warn of temporary dangers and closures, such as wet floors, spills, rest room closures for cleaning, and wet paint.
Free-standing signs warning that a floor is wet or that a particular area should be avoided are well known. One common form of such “warning” or “safety” signs is an A-frame sign having two flat panels hinged together at their upper ends. Examples of such signs are shown in Maza et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,260, Glass, U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,210, Hamann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,369, Genick, U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,697, Thurston, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,541, Mandell, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,992, Eberle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,320, Bell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,590, Young, U.S. Pat. No. 7,057,530, Kurple, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,477, Glass, U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,151, and Tsui, U.S. Pat. No. D787,969. Although such signs were originally made of wood or metal, they are today most frequently molded of plastic. Other such warning or safety signs are known, including a single panel having a floor-engaging foot, sold by Rubbermaid Commercial Products, LLC, Winchester, Va., USA as its model FG9S0925. Still other such signs include cones, pyramids, and other round, octagonal, or four-sided structures, but the present invention is not concerned with these.
Safety signs generally range in height from about 22″ to about 40″, usually about 26″. They have a maximum width of about 10″ to 13″. A common safety sign has a width at its top of about 8″ to 9″, a width at its bottom of about 12″, an open or standing depth of about 15″ to 16″, and a standing height of about 23″ to 24″.
Safety signs are limited by their size to protecting a relatively small area. If a doorway or a hallway is to be closed, more than one sign is needed to block or impede passage. Closing a larger area, such as a hallway, is sometimes accomplished by stringing tape between two free-standing signs, such as cones, but this requires a substantial amount of labor as well as the use of multiple signs, a tape reel, and mountings on each sign for the tape and its reel.